Submitted by his niece, Meredith Wenham, daughter of Bryan’s brother Noel.
Bryan was born on 9th November 1913, in Johannesburg, South Africa, to Elisabeth and William “Arthur” Trigg. His family was living there while his father worked as a Mine Manager. With the threat of War, the advice was to return to Australia as soon as possible. On the journey back to South Australia in early 1914, during a violent storm which threatened to sink the ship, baby Bryan was strapped to his nine year old sister Coral while his parents cared for their three other children.
Bryan grew up on the family farm just south of Cummins, on the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia. All eleven children (4 girls and 7 boys) helped on the farm, with Bryan particularly interested in caring for the pigs, as well as preparing the feeds, helping his older brothers with scrub clearing, tending the horses and cows. The kids kept fit running the two miles in to Cummins to school – they ran barefoot, to save their boot leather. They often raced each other home. All the boys played football, and in the early years, their father was in the same team. Bryan was known as the joker of the family, and often played tricks on his siblings and other family members.
When Bryan was about 18, his father’s job in the South Australian Railways took him to Port Lincoln, so the parents and younger children moved down there. The older boys, and the first-born Coral stayed to work the farm. Coral was “Mother”. Their mother Elisabeth came up on the train on a regular basis, to check on the farmers, darn socks, and give Coral a bit of a hand for a while. Their father Arthur supervised their farm jobs via occasional visits, or by letter.
When school teacher Mabel Bagshaw was posted to Cummins, she and Bryan were soon dating, and planning their lives together. They were married on 8th August 1940 in the Cummins Methodist Church. Their first home was a small stone building on the farm with no running water or electricity. They had fifteen months of farm life, before Bryan enlisted.
Five brothers enlisted during WWII, leaving two other brothers to run the whole farm. Bryan enlisted on 17th January 1942, and was assigned to the 2/12th Field Ambulance. After training, he was based with his unit in Darwin during ongoing raids following the first bombing of Darwin in February 1942.
Bryan had suffered a serious knee injury in 1936, which had required surgery. This handicap, and a severe concussion suffered during a troop train derailment in 1942, did not stop him continuing with his War service.
During his time in the armed forces, Bryan was able to return home on leave, and there was great excitement when Mabs became pregnant. Sadly, she lost her pregnancies in the early months, the last occurring after she had farewelled him for what was to be the final time.
Bryan’s brother Noel was based in the Northern Territory, with the Darwin Overland Maintenance Force. When Bryan was en route to Darwin, he managed to get a 24 hour pass so the two brothers could spend some time together. This turned out to be their last meeting.
Bryan lost his life when AHS Centaur was torpedoed and sunk. His death certificate notes cause of death was drowning – probably a generic “kind” term used to describe the atrocities of that night. Of the five brothers and one sister who served during WWII, he was the only one to be killed. The others incurred physical and emotional trauma which they bravely carried for the rest of their days.
Bryan has always been fondly if sorrowfully remembered within the family. When David Mearns and his team found the wreck of the AHS Centaur, we immediately felt sad for Bryan’s siblings who had passed away never knowing exactly where their brother’s body lay.
On 24th September 2010, the Trigg family were very privileged to be aboard HMAS Manoora for the At-Sea Memorial Service. Bryan’s sister Marjorie and her husband Bob, nephew Bryan Trigg (named after his Uncle Bryan), niece Meredith Wenham (nee Trigg) and her husband Peter Wenham, represented the Trigg clan.
Marjorie, then 85 years old, was eighteen when her adored brother was killed. Her older sister, 91 year old Valda was not well enough to travel to Queensland for the Memorial Service, and all the other siblings had died. So Marjorie said farewell to her brother, on behalf of them all.
After the Service was over, I stood at the rail of the ship, looking down into the depths where AHS Centaur lay 2 kms down. It was an indescribable feeling, and one I will treasure as I share the stories of this occasion with our extended family.
Bryan’s widow Mabs lived out the rest of her days in Cummins, to be near Bryan’s extended family, and she was a valued and loved member of the Trigg clan. After her death on 17th August 2006, her ashes were interred in the Cummins Cemetery. Her plaque includes Bryan’s name and date of death – “Reunited at last with her beloved Bryan”.
